The Darkest Day in Fire Nation History
by SodiumTelluride
Summary: Ever wonder what happened on the original Day of Black Sun? Read on to find out! Mostly OC's. Rating for violence.  Finally complete!
1. Chapter 1: News and Implications

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although I seriously wish I did.

Eleven years had passed since anyone had last seen the Avatar. It was said that Fire Lord Sozin had killed him, meaning that it would be another five years before anyone would know who the next one is. But there was another rumor going around- that Avatar Roku had been killed while in the famous Avatar State. This, it was said, had broken the reincarnation cycle. The Avatar was gone forever.

Ori didn't believe them. He couldn't. Fire Lord Sozin had already spent the last eleven years expanding the Fire Nation little by little, enough to make it clear to everyone that his goal was to make everyone Fire Nation. So far the Water Tribes hadn't seen many firebender invaders- though Ori imagined the Fire Lord was simply biding his time. As one of the best waterbending students in the Northern Water Tribe, Ori made it his personal goal to make sure that when firebenders did come knocking, he would be able to help drive them off.

He spent this particular afternoon the same way he had spent most of his afternoons for the past month- training. Daily lessons were over, of course, but he had to practice on his own if he was to compete with the three other star pupils in Master Kengen's class. The old waterbending master did his best not to make it a contest, and praised all four of them equally well (mostly because their abilities were almost completely equal), but Ori knew this was how they did it. So, not wanting to fall behind, he kept pace with them. His arm motions were as fluid as the water dancing around his body in an elegant stream, a stream that curled itself into a sphere of water as Ori whirled his hands in closer to him. Several more motions and the sphere hovered above his head and became a large, slowly spinning disc of ice. Ori performed a throwing motion and the disc flew in front of him, neatly slicing the head off a snowman he had formed a few moments ago.

A muffled clapping came from behind him. He turned to see his girlfriend Kai's gloved hands applauding him. She smiled teasingly. "Good job, Ori, but I bet even I could do that."

"Oh yea?" Ori bent his knees and made a scooping motion with his hands, then pushed them both to one side. A snowball hit Kai cleanly in the cheek, bursting into powdered snow on impact. "If you're so good at this, why do I always beat you in snowball fights?"

"Because you're at an unfair advantage," Kai laughed. Both of them knew Kai didn't have an ounce of waterbending ability. "But I came here to tell you something I learned last night. I think you'll be interested."

Ori groaned. "If it's another funny-looking constellation, you're getting another snowball." Kai hadn't the slightest interest in Ori's waterbending. For reasons he couldn't explain, Kai had always been fascinated with the stars. She'd found an astronomer with a passion to match, and the two of them spent their nights studying the skies. She'd only just woken up, and probably hadn't even eaten anything. They'd long ago taken it for granted that the afternoon was their first opportunity to spend time together- she stayed up until just before dawn, which was when Ori's waterbending lessons began. She slept until the afternoon when his lessons were over, then they parted again when it was time for dinner. Perhaps not the best of circumstances, but other couples had it little better- girls weren't allowed to study waterbending combat anyway, so nobody else in his class who had girlfriends could see them until the end of the lesson either.

"No, this is different, I promise. It's exciting!"

Ori sighed. "Ok, I'm listening."

Kai lowered her voice as though she were telling him a secret. "There's going to be an eclipse soon. The ninth day of next month, to be exact. We've been watching the moon, and two weeks from tomorrow it's going to blot out the sun."

"A what?" Ori couldn't believe it. His mind started racing. The Fire Nation had set up a small camp some miles southwest of their tribe, on an island a little warmer than up here at the pole. It housed only a dozen people or so, all firebenders, and wasn't intended to be seen as a threat. But Ori and the other students always talked of taking it out someday, before a full-scale invasion could begin. The post, they knew, was built as a stakeout to keep an eye on the goings-on of the Northern waterbenders, and one of these days someone was going to have to do something about it.

He always had a feeling that he would know when the time was right to strike- well, here was just such an opportunity staring him in the face. "You're serious? An eclipse?"

Kai smiled. "Yep. Isn't that great? I've never seen one!"

"Uh, yea, great. I've never seen one either." Ori had mentioned to her exactly once that he and the others wanted to take out that Fire Nation post. Kai stayed mad at him for a week for even thinking about it. "That's not funny, Ori," she had said. "How can you even think that? They're minding their own business, and if anything you'll only make them _want_ to attack us. You _can't_ go through with this." After a week, Ori had begrudgingly promised to her that he wouldn't- a promise he never really intended to keep.

That evening, he went to visit one of the other students under Master Kengen. Kuku was the oldest of them, named after Avatar Kuruk, and he and Ori had been friends since the day they met. "I have some big news," Ori told him in a hushed tone. "Get the others together. Two weeks from now, we attack the Fire Nation."


	2. Chapter 2: The War Meeting

Fire Lord Sozin was many things. Indecisive was not one of them.

He had called this war meeting, however, because he was unsure about his next move. So far, he'd stuck to taking over small towns and villages, rather than declaring open war against any of the nations. He didn't have that kind of power, yet.

But he would soon. There was a comet coming, one that passed by only once every hundred years. One that granted all firebenders incredible power. Last time it came, firebenders didn't know what to do with all that power, because there was peace. Some disputes were settled, some Agni Kais were fought, but ultimately nothing changed. Wasted, in Sozin's opinion. This one would not be.

After his ceremonial robes were placed around his shoulders he waved his servants away. Giving himself a final glance in the mirror—one could never quite be sure servants hadn't missed anything—he proceeded to the Throne Room to meet with his top generals. Two armed guards accompanied him, but he paid them little attention. They would not be present at the meeting.

As expected, he was the last to arrive. Everyone in the room stood up until the Fire Lord reached the throne, and waved them to be seated. "General Lee, your report."

General Lee, sitting closest to Sozin's right, stood up. "Thank you sir. In the past three months the Fire Nation Army has taken one Earth Kingdom settlement some miles west of Omashu, on the outskirts of the Si Wong Desert. Casualties to the Fire Nation were minimal, and prisoners have been contained."

Fire Lord Sozin nodded once. "Admiral Jeong, your report."

Admiral Jeong was seated closest to Sozin's left, and stood up. "Thank you sir. In the past three months the Fire Nation Navy has successfully overtaken two waterbender towns—one belonging to the Southern Water Tribe, and one we came across unknowingly in a swamp. Casualties to the Fire Nation were moderate, but prisoners have been contained. It should be noted that the swamp waterbenders were radically different from the Northern and Southern Water Tribe waterbenders, and seemed entirely detached from either tribe."

The Fire Lord nodded once. "Good. When we lay seige to the Water Tribes, we won't have to worry about arctic benders working side-by-side with swamp benders.

"Now, gentlemen, on to the reason I've called this meeting. As we all know, there is a certain comet due for arrival next year. It will grant us the power of a hundred suns, and I do not intend to let this power go to waste. Unfortunately, we do not have the numbers to both start and end this war during its appearance. So, we will wipe out one of the other three nations quickly and decisively; the other two we will lay siege to over time. The Earth Kingdom is large, and strong, but they are not our biggest concern. No, the ones we need to worry about are the Air Nomads and the Water Tribes. The Air Nomads, as you know, currently host the Avatar. Although the new Avatar is only a child now, he still poses a considerable threat to the Fire Nation. We must take him out before he has a chance to become fully realized.

"The Water Tribes, on the other hand, are particularly strong against us. We will need a large, full-scale assault against them in order to achieve victory. The Southern Water Tribe is comparatively small, and may not pose much of a threat—but in the North their numbers are many, and their city is strong. And I don't think I need to mention our inherent disadvantage by fighting in the cold. We will need a full-scale Naval assault to bring the Northern Water Tribe to its knees."

Sozin looked at General Lee. "General, as my top military advisor, what is your suggestion?"

Without hesitation the general stood. "Sir, my suggestion would be to focus our strength on the Air Nomads. With the power of the comet we can simultaneously attack all four Air Temples and wipe them out. The Avatar is not yet old enough to stand against us, and if we kill him—or her—now we will have another sixteen years before we will have to worry about him again."

"Do we have the necessary means to mount an assault on the Air Temples?"

"Well, sir, the temples are very hard to reach for non-airbenders. We have the technology, but not in a large enough scale as to give us the capacity to mount an attack. However, we are capable of producing it in sufficient quantities by the time the comet arrives."

Sozin steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "Admiral Jeong, with the power of the comet are we strong enough to attack both Water Tribes?"

The admiral stood as General Lee sat down. "Yes, sir. If we dispatch seventy percent of our warships to the north, and thirty percent to the south, I'm confident we can defeat them under the comet. If you would prefer to also search the swamps, we would need to devote about ten percent to that cause. It may increase the duration of our siege to the North, but we can win."

"And do you think that would be the best use of the comet's power?"

Admiral Jeong paused. "If I may speak freely, sir, I would not consider the Avatar a threat at this time, nor a year from now when the comet arrives. He will be only twelve then, not old enough to begin formal element training even if his status is revealed to him—which I think is a possibility we can disregard, given his age. My suggestion would be we attack the Water Tribes under the comet, and then we can mount our attack on the Air Nomads at leisure. I anticipate at least three more years before the Avatar can counter-attack—five until we can be certain he is aware of his status, and more likely another year on top of that before he becomes a real threat, but I believe we can count on three to be safe."

Sozin pursed his lips. "Thank you, Admiral. But I believe you underestimate the Avatar. Once he is aware that he is the Avatar, he will be given access to the Avatar State. Without proper training he will not have control of himself, but he will most definitely be a threat to the Fire Nation. I have faced a fully-realized Avatar, and I am not in a hurry to do it again, even against one without any training."

The Fire Lord stood, and with him stood everyone in attendance. "Then it is decided. We will utilize this year to build up our ground forces, and the technology to augment them. Until then, the Army is to halt its invasion tactics. General Lee, you will oversee this operation." The general bowed. "Admiral Jeong, you will continue such invasions as you deem able to be won, but you must ensure that any and all damage to the ships can be repaired by the time of the comet's arrival. We will need all of them in order to transport men and machines." The admiral bowed. "Dismissed."

The war party left the Throne Room. Fire Lord Sozin retreated to his chamber and was helped out of his ceremonial garments. His face was stern as he looked ahead to the coming year of preparations. _Avatar,_ he thought, _I've killed you once. I will do it again._


	3. Chapter 3: The Four Waterbenders

"We do what, now?" Kuku looked dubious, as though he were waiting for the punchline of a joke. Ori and the others loved talking about how one day the four of them would sneak into the Fire Nation camp and take out all the soldiers, ultimately leveling the place. Kuku helped make plans and discuss the best moves to use because it helped him relax after lessons all day, but at eighteen he knew better than to actually take these plans seriously. Four novice waterbenders wouldn't stand a chance against the few dozen Fire Nation soldiers stationed there.

"We attack the Fire Nation," Ori repeated. "Firebenders get their bending from the sun, right? Just like we get ours from the moon?"

"Right," Kuku prompted.

"And during a lunar eclipse, we lose all our bending."

"Where are you going with this?"

Ori looked around before continuing. "There's a solar eclipse in two weeks. If firebenders are anything like us, they'll lose all their bending."

Kuku shook his head. "That's not the same thing. Legend says we learned waterbending from the moon, so of course during a lunar eclipse we lose our bending. But the sun wasn't the first firebender. The dragons were. I don't know much about dragons, but I'm pretty sure they're somehow connected to the spirit world. Who knows—maybe they can grant firebending or something during an eclipse."

Ori raised an eyebrow. "You don't know that. And I mean, we've been talking about this ever since those firebenders first came here. Now we've got an opportunity staring us in the face, and you don't want to risk it?"

"No. I don't. To tell you the truth, I've never thought it was a good idea. We aren't ready. Those firebenders are soldiers who've been trained in combat. We're just teenagers who've never even seen a real battle. We'd have to-"

"I know, I know. But we've got to try. This could be our only shot."

Kuku exhaled. "Please don't tell me you want to risk all of our lives on the _guess_ that this will work."

"I don't. But I'm willing to risk mine. We need to start taking the offensive in this war, or we'll lose. I really need your help, Kuku, but I'm not going to force you. If you don't want to come, you don't have to. But we should gather the others and see what they have to say."

Kuku looked away, thinking. "Okay," he said after a pause. "We'll ask the others what they think."

It wasn't hard to find the others. Yao had just finished dinner, and Leng was still practicing the octopus form. He was, Ori had to admit, the best of them at it. Maybe this was why.

They gathered in an ice fort of sorts they had built when they were young. It had collapsed or been hit many times, and it only vaguely resembled what it originally looked like. It was much sturdier now, with carvings in the ice to indicate who it belonged to. But it was the same fort, in their eyes, and had always stood in the same place. "We have the opportunity of a lifetime soon," Ori began. "A chance to take out the Fire Nation outpost. A chance to put into practice all the planning we've done."

He paused for any interjections. But no one spoke. Kuku was watching the other two, wanting to know what they thought. Ori continued. "In two weeks there will be a solar eclipse. I'm pretty sure firebenders will lose their bending then. It will be the perfect time to strike."

"Are you serious?" Leng pumped the air with his fist. "All right!"

"This isn't a game," Kuku said sternly. "I've never seen a solar eclipse before, have you? Probably even Master Kengen never has. We don't know that's what will happen."

"Of course that's what will happen," Yao piped up. "We can't bend during a lunar eclipse."

"That's not the—" Kuku sighed. "Whatever. Continue," he waved.

"If it makes you feel better," Ori said conceedingly, "let's ask Master Kengen about it. He's studied the firebenders."

Leng groaned loudly. "Do we have to? We'll be there all night. You know how he is."

Kuku was not amused. "I don't want to leave this to chance. Let's go."

They found their waterbending master in his house later that evening, peacefully enjoying some tea. "What are you doing here?" Master Kengen demanded. "It's three hours after sundown. You four should seriously consider getting some rest."

Ori bowed. "Master Kengen. We have a question about the firebenders."

"Firebenders? What about them?"

"Specifically, what happens during a solar eclipse."

Master Kengen chucked softly to himself. "An eclipse is more than just a natural phenomenon. It is a deeply spiritual event. The cosmic energy emanated by the moon spirit blocks the sun's fiery might during a solar eclipse, just as the moon spirit's energy during a lunar eclipse is blocked by the earth itself. We waterbenders rely on the moon to counterbalance the power of firebenders, which has been the case for as far back as written history reaches. The spirits maintain balance between the four elements—though of course, we waterbenders have two spirits we most rely on. Tui and La, the moon and ocean spirits, provide us with our abilities. It is their perpetual dance, push and pull, that taught us how to waterbend. That's why during a full moon, when the moon spirit is at her strongest, all waterbending becomes very powerful. I imagine if the ocean spirit were to gain power, we would then as well…" Master Kengen paused. "But what does all this have to do with firebenders?"

Ori was doing his best to look interested. He was afraid of this—everyone knew Master Kengen was easily sidetracked, and it was usually a mistake to ask him for information. All the stuff about the moon and the ocean was common knowledge to the four of them already; Master Kengen had talked about it many times before. But they'd gotten what they wanted. "Um, I guess it really doesn't. Thank you for the information, master." Ori and the others bowed to him and left.

"That actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting," Leng said when they were out of earshot. "That was probably his shortest speech yet. Do you think maybe he's starting to realize we already know about that stuff? I mean, I fully expected him to go into the whole spirit world thing."

Kuku laughed and held up a hand. "Please don't start. We get enough of that every day." Leng grinned. Kuku's mood had noticeably improved since their teacher's speech, and Ori was beginning to hope the four of them would do this after all. "So how long will we have, anyway?"

Ori thought for a minute. "Honestly, I have no idea. But Kai will know, she's the one who told me."

"Kai's so weird," Yao laughed. "I don't even know why you're still with her."

"Hey, if I wasn't, we wouldn't know about this, would we?"

No one could argue with that. When they got back to the fort they immediately started drawing up plans and going through the next two weeks. Kuku had already taken charge. "We'll need to be stealthy. Unfortunately we don't have any Fire Nation uniforms, so we'll have to steal some Fire Nation clothes. We can wait and do that when the day approaches, so we don't have to find a place to hide them for two weeks. In the meantime, we're all going to have to step it up a notch in our lessons. Leng, you're good with the octopus form—keep working on that. Yao, you're the smallest, so be practicing your agility. Ori, I've seen what you can do with the water whip, so hone it further. I know what I have to work on, too. During lessons we'll focus on sparring, then we'll split up in the afternoons, and meet back here every evening. The firebenders are going down!"

They cheered and parted company for the night. Kuku had never actually complimented Ori before, and certainly not on a particular skill. Ori had always prided himself on his water whip, but didn't think anyone else had really noticed. He found his house, snuck past the kitchen to avoid awkward questions, and crawled into bed full of anticipation. He couldn't wait for his chance to show the firebenders what he was capable of.


	4. Chapter 4: Training

The first several days came and went, and the four boys could tell they were improving. They had jumped head-first into their training with a new vigor, and hadn't let up an inch. Though they were evenly matched in sparring bouts, the fights had grown noticeably more intense and more impressive to watch.

None of this passed by the watchful eye of Master Kengen unnoticed. He didn't know the reason for this renewed energy from his students, but he was impressed. In the past, he'd been teaching all of them the same techniques, and their abilities had remained more or less equal with only mild differences. Now, though, each had taken to a different specialty, which would in time make them a formidable team. Yao turned his fights into quite the aerobic workout, dodging and weaving and running circles around his opponent. He began to focus on techniques that could be performed on the move, such as ice spikes and the water knife. Leng began using the octopus form almost exclusively, and soon he could control the eight tendrils quite independently of each other. He approached training and sparring with an enthusiasm that bordered excitement. In contrast, Kuku's clear-headed and stoic determination on the battlefield made him an intimidating adversary. Of the four of them he possessed the greatest amount of sheer bending power, able to manipulate large amounts of water to unleash devastating blows—if they hit. As often as not he was bested by little Yao with his small, quick hits.

But none showed as much versatility as Ori. Master Kengen had always been able to tell Ori liked the water whip, but now Ori was really letting himself use it. On one memorable occasion, during a sparring free-for-all (an event requested by the four of them), Ori used the whip to knock Yao off his feet and grab Kuku's arm mid-bending, while using another to pull one of Leng's reaching tendrils away from him. Master Kengen was impressed that, though Ori's and Leng's water streams were locked together, it was clear that Ori's actually had hold of the other. He was so proud of his students that day he couldn't even remember who had won.

Eleven days before the day of the eclipse—or the Day of Black Sun, as Leng liked to call it—the boys gathered in the fort at the end of the day. Ori was the last to arrive, and his jaw dropped. Leng stood in the middle, modeling himself, dressed in a full Fire Nation uniform. He stroked one of the shoulder spikes with the same demeanor one would use polishing an invisible apple on one's shirt.

"Where did you get that?" Kuku demanded.

Leng shrugged. "I nicked it."

"You've been sneaking down to the Fire Nation post?"

"Yeah. Somebody had to. How else are we going to figure out how to get there? We can't just sail one of our ships right over and knock on the door. I figured out a way to get there and back unnoticed—and even sneak past the guards to get this," he added with a grin.

Kuku ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "Don't do that again. You could've been killed, and we need all four of us to be a part of this next week."

"Yes, father," Leng mocked.

Quick as a flash, Kuku's arm shot out onto Leng's chest and pushed him against the wall of the fort. Leng made contact with the ice so hard they could hear it crack. "This isn't a game! What part of 'killed' don't you understand? Those soldiers aren't playing around!"

Leng pushed Kuku off him. "Of course I understand! But we need this, too. If I hadn't done this, we'd be missing a key ingredient to our little plan—step one. And if you'll stop harassing me for a minute, I can show you what it is."

Kuku reluctantly agreed. Leng led them down to the water's edge directly toward the Fire Nation outpost. "Remember the water bubble Master Kengen taught us? It's the key. We can swim underwater the entire way there." Without another word, he turned and dived into the icy water. His head never hit the water though—it parted to accept him as though he were wearing a glass helmet. When he resurfaced, his hair was still completely dry. "We can swim underwater the whole way there. They never even see us coming."

Kuku's scorn for Leng's rashness went away quickly. "Wow. That's actually pretty smart."

Leng grinned. "Our teacher taught us more than he guesses, I think."

Ori was playing out the scene in his head. They would swim over in their stolen Fire Nation uniforms, find a place to sneak into the post, and emerge looking like they belonged. Then when the sun was completely hidden, they would throw off their disguises and wreak havoc on the defenseless firebenders. He could picture it now—that moment of truth, when the firebenders were still trying to adjust to the fact that their bending could be taken away completely, Ori and the others would toss aside their disguises. He would find their leader and personally make him their prisoner. The rest of the firebenders would try to defend themselves, and would probably die. They were soldiers, after all, and such were the ways of war.

War. So far it hadn't touched the Northern Water Tribe, even though it kept peeking at them from around the corner. Ori and his friends were acting in the best interests of the tribe, of course, but their actions next week may actually serve to bring the war _to_ their tribe. They weren't going to wait for the war to come knocking—they would go and get it.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Captain Teng."

The captain stood up from his desk as Admiral Jeong entered his quarters. "Sir."

"I want you to prepare a ship that can take me to our outpost overlooking the Northern Water Tribe. The Fire Lord wants everything to remain in-place until we've disposed of the Air Nomads, and I intend to ensure that it does. Not a warship—we don't want to attract any unwanted attention from the waterbenders. How soon can a small, fast ship take me there?"

"Well, sir, if we left tomorrow morning we can be there in six days."

The admiral nodded. "Good. We will leave at dawn." The captain bowed, and Admiral Jeong left. Captain Teng put on his uniform to head down to the docks, and exhaled. He hoped the northern outpost was in working order, because even if he sent them a messenger hawk tonight they would have only a day or two to prepare themselves for the visit. That poor lieutenant in charge of the place is going to have a heart attack when he finds himself with a full-fledged admiral looking it over. Captain Teng went over the docked ships in his head, and decided on the best one for the mission. It was nearly sundown, meaning the dock crew had only one night to prepare the ship for its important task. It was the fastest, but not the best-looking, and that would not befit the admiral. If only they had been given time to prepare for this!


	5. Chapter 5: A Change of Plans

Ten days before the eclipse, at the start of the day's lesson at sunrise, Master Kengen stood before his students with a grave look on his face. Some of the younger students hardly seemed to notice, but to Ori and the oldest ones, it meant there was big news. "I received a message last night from Master Yi in the Earth Kingdom. He says there is to be an eclipse at the end of the week."

Ori instinctively looked at the other three. Did one of them send a message? The others looked equally perplexed—none of them had intended to involve the Earth Kingdom in this at all. Then Ori remembered how Kai had learned about the eclipse—by studying the stars. Perhaps the Earth Kingdom had astronomers of its own. Master Kengen continued. "He tells me some of his top students are mounting an assault on the Fire Nation capital that day, when the firebenders will be unable to resist. They are convinced they will be able to find Fire Lord Sozin and end the war before it really begins."

"Wait," Ori blurted. "The capital? Not one of the towns the Fire Nation has claimed, or anything?" _We've been thinking too small,_ Ori realized. _The earthbenders have the right idea—we need to take full advantage of this while we have it_.

Master Kengen looked down his nose at him. "Yes, Ori, the capital, the Fire Nation palace itself. His students have already gone to the military and recruited their assistance. Master Yi fears that even with the military at their backs, his students will want to do something rash. He asks whether there are any among the waterbenders that would like to help, hoping that if they are not alone they can survive. Out of concern for my own students, I am restricting this opportunity to those older than fourteen."

"Yes!" Leng blurted. Master Kengen's expression was not one of surprise, but held a noticeable amount of disappointment. "I mean, yes, I would like to go. I'm ready."

Ori, Kuku, and Yao all nodded in agreement. "We will go too," Kuku said. There were six other students fifteen and older, but they all shook their heads. No, they didn't want to be part of any fighting. "How many of them are there?"

"The military is providing six dozen soldiers. Of the earthbending students, there are eight. I have spoken with our own captain of the military. He asked the men, and thirty agreed to go. Today's lesson," Master Kengen continued, addressing the rest of the students, "will be an opportunity for each of you to focus on what you believe you need the most practice with. Dismissed."

Ori and the others approached Master Kengen when the other students had dispersed. "But the eclipse is in ten days," he said. "Will we have enough time to get to the capital by then?"

"Only just," Master Kengen responded. "You will have to continue your training on the ships. And whatever your plan is, the eclipse will last only seven minutes. Unfortunately we have no way of shielding our eyes from the sun, so you will have to make do with quick glances and do the best you can to keep track of your time. If even a sliver of the sun is visible, the firebenders will be powerful again. Now, if you head to the docks, the ships should be waiting for you. You need to leave as soon as you can."

"How long do you think we have?" Leng asked when they were on their way back to the fort.

"I don't know," Kuku said with a shrug. "Why?"

Leng thought about the Fire Nation uniform he'd folded and stashed in a corner. "Well, what better way to infiltrate the Fire Nation capital than in their uniforms? And we've got a whole outpost full of them not far away, if we've got enough time to go get them."

Kuku paused. "You know… You're right. Ori, you and Yao go to the docks and make sure we can get at least an hour. Leng, you and I are going to go get three more uniforms."

The other three stood agape. "Wow, Kuku," Yao said. "I've never known you to be so… Impulsive. And reckless. And fun," he added with a grin.

Ori nodded with a smile. "You'll have your hour. We'll make sure of it."

Leng and Kuku swam quickly to the Fire Nation post. It was hard to make the right arm motions in the water—they weren't really swimming so much as bending the water behind them as quickly as they could. It was much faster this way, and they needed all the time they could spare. In ten minutes they'd reached the iceberg that the post had been built on. The two of them pulled themselves out of the water as quietly as they could, so as not to alert the guards. "Let's see one of our boats do that!" Leng whispered, panting.

Kuku propped himself up on his hands and knees for a minute, trying to catch his breath. "I'm not… sure I can… do that again… when we're done."

Leng laughed quietly. "Sure you can. (pant) Let's go!"

Leng led Kuku along the wall of the post. He pointed out to Kuku when they'd reached a blind spot between the guard towers. The two of them swayed their arms in sync with each other and bent themselves a hole in the ice just big enough to crawl through.

Down inside their ice tunnel, Leng paced their progress carefully. After a few minutes, he turned his head to look back at Kuku. "Here we are," he said quietly. They bent their tunnel upwards until it broke the surface of the ice.

They found themselves underneath a large, elaborately woven rug. They had to crawl almost to the nearest wall before they were able to free themselves. Kuku stood up just in time to hear a startled scream.

"Who are you? Get out of here!" a female voice demanded. A Fire Nation girl not much older than Kuku had jumped up and was pressing herself against the wall.

Leng scratched the back of his neck. "Oops. Heh, sorry." He looked at Kuku, and the two of them dove under the carpet and back to their tunnel, quickly closing it behind them. Leng grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so I overguessed a little. We were supposed to come out right behind that house."

Kuku rolled his eyes. "Let's just not do that again." They retraced a few feet and dug upward again. This time there was open ice above them, and when they freed themselves onto the surface they were in a space just a few feet wide, with the wooden outer wall on one side and the bricks of the house they'd just broken into on the other.

"This way." Leng led Kuku to one side of the house, then ducked down. In front of them was a clothesline with six Fire Nation uniforms hanging from it. A small fire kindled beneath each of them "This is where this group of houses," Leng indicated the one they'd just left and several others to either side of it, "hangs their laundry out to dry. I'll bet that girl was just somebody's wife, because these houses all belong to the soldiers."

Kuku looked around. No one could be seen in any direction from back here. "And that's it? You just walked up and grabbed one?"

Leng nodded. "Yep. Pretty simple, right?"

Kuku stood up. "Let's just get this over with."

After making sure they were alone, the two of them carefully pulled three uniforms off the rack. Kuku held the tops, Leng the bottoms. "Okay, let's get out of here."

"Not yet, Kuku. If you haven't noticed, we don't have boots or helmets for these."

Kuku looked around. He honestly hadn't noticed. There were none to be seen. "How are we gonna get them?"

Leng looked at the ground with a small smile. "Well, that's the hard part. Each soldier keeps his boots and helmet inside his house. That guy," he pointed his thumb at the house they'd just left, "had his in the corner kinda by where that girl was sitting. So… we have to get them. And two others just like it."

Kuku sighed. "I guess there's no way to be stealthy about that. Let's just grab them."

Leng smiled as the two of them set down the uniform pieces. They didn't bother covering the clothes up, figuring if someone were to find them they would just get hung back up. The two of them tunneled back into the house, only this time they weren't met with a scream.

They were met with a rolling pin.

Kuku and Leng crawled out from under the carpet as quickly as they could while the cute girl hit them on the back and shoulders repeatedly with her solid wood rolling pin. "I thought I told you to get out! I'll call my husband on you!"

Kuku pulled a chunk of ice out from a part of the floor not covered by the large rug, and formed it around the girl's wrist holding the rolling pin. With a wave of his arms, the ice cuff pulled the girl to a bare spot on the floor, where it fastened itself. The girl quickly overcame her surprise. "You're waterbenders! Get out of here, vandals!" She pulled as hard as she could against the ice, but she was held fast. Leng grabbed the boots and helmet next to the girl's chair, and headed under the carpet. Before they left, Kuku pulled out another, smaller bit of ice and shaped it into a water knife. On the wall above the girl's head he carved the letters "NWT" and let the water fall. "Northern Water Tribe!" he exclaimed as he crawled underneath the carpet and left.

Fortunately for the pair, the two other houses they picked were empty. All the off-duty soldiers must've been together doing something, Kuku thought. Soon Kuku had gathered up three uniform tops and three helmets, while Leng held three pairs of pants and six boots. He tied the boots up in one of the pairs of pants into an easily-carried bundle. Just as they were about to leave, the girl from their first house ran out, spotted them, and pointed at them. "Them! They're the thieves!"

Two fully-dressed Fire Nation soldiers ran toward them from behind her, carrying spears. "Stop! In the name of the Fire Nation!" _Strange that they aren't raising any kind of alarm,_ Leng thought to himself. He turned to Kuku to say "we need to go," but his friend was no longer there. Kuku was standing on top of the entrance to their tunnel, gesturing to Leng. "Are you coming?"

As soon as Leng dived into the hole Kuku jumped in feet-first and sealed the entrance. The two of them used one arm each to bend the snow behind them, pushing them quickly toward the other end of their tunnel. They reached it and crawled awkwardly out of it, carrying the stolen uniforms. By now the guards on the wall were alerted to the pair's presence, and were yelling orders to each other. Leng and Kuku ran and dived into the water, making sure to give themselves a bubble of air as they jumped.

Their progress was severely hampered by the extra weight, and by the time they arrived back on their own shore Kuku guessed it had been over an hour and a half. He hoped the rest of them hadn't left already.

Leng dropped his gear and sat on the ice, panting. "Why… did you tell them… we were… from up here?"

"Well," Kuku said, "it was obvious enough… when I used my waterbending. But by itself… stealing uniforms looks… like we've got a purpose. Doing it my way… makes it look like we're… just vandals, like she said."

The two of them looked up to see Ori and Yao running toward them. "Where have you been?" Ori cried. "It's been almost two hours! I've been doing everything I can to stall them, but they're about to leave without all four of us!"

Kuku stood up, still out of breath. "Well let's go then," he said. He handed two of the uniform pieces and two of the helmets to Ori. "You can carry these for now. Yao, go grab Leng's from the fort. Let's get to the dock!"

A few minutes later all four of them climbed aboard just as the ship left the dock. Three waterbenders stood at the front of the craft, and three at the rear, pushing the water behind them. The ship gained speed quickly. _At this rate, we shouldn't have a problem getting there on time,_ Ori thought. Looking behind him, he saw that Kuku, Leng and Yao had already changed into their uniforms. Yao's was several sizes too big for him, and he had to roll up the sleeves and pants to make it look presentable. Leng was playing with his helmet, tossing it up in the air and catching it. But Kuku looked dashing—his uniform fit like it was made for him, and his already tall stature was made to look even more impressive by the large shoulder spikes and intimidating colors of the Fire Nation uniform. He looked like he was born for this.

Ori smiled and went below deck to put on his own uniform. _Fire Nation, I hope you're ready for us_, he thought. _Because we're coming for you._

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"Sir." The young petty officer stood at the entrance to the lieutenant's small office. "We've taken inventory and assessed the damage from this morning's vandalism. All that was stolen were three full uniforms, and one of them carved the initials NWT onto the wall in my house. They wanted us to know they were from the Northern Water Tribe."

Lieutenant Soku rubbed his temple. "Three uniforms? And didn't you say someone claimed to have lost their uniform last week, too? That might've been these same kids, making four in all that they've taken. But I don't see what the reason is."

"Shall I bring a messenger hawk, so you can send word to the capital? If those kids are up to something—"

"No," the lieutenant interrupted. "They don't need to know about a few miscreants and their antics. We'll handle it ourselves. Just don't let it happen again. Make sure the men talk to their families about alerting us to any further activity."

The petty officer bowed and left. Lieutenant Soku sighed. Fire Nation officers weren't known for being readily forgiving when it came to making mistakes. If anyone higher up received word that Soku had let a bunch of kids into his post, twice, he would be relieved of his position. He was just glad Captain Teng had left him to his own devices up here.


	6. Chapter 6: The Day Before

Ori and the others spend the last day of the trip doing very little. They'd trained more intensively over the course of the trip than they ever had before. Even Kuku admitted he was exhausted, and allowed them all to relax. As far as the journey went, they were right on time.

The Northern Water Tribe ships reached Fire Nation waters the evening before the day of the eclipse. When they were still a good distance away from land, far away enough so as not to be seen in the twilight, the waterbenders at either side of the ship changed motions. They began pulling the water in opposite directions, halting their forward progress and effectively anchoring the ships. Here they waited, and it was only about an hour before the first Earth Kingdom ship was spotted to the east. The two nations pulled their leading ships next to each other, with the waterbenders helping to keep the two in place, and several earthbenders boarded. Kuku and the captain of the Northern Water Tribe military met them. Kuku noticed that several of them were no older than himself. "You're the students who came up with this plan, aren't you?"

The tallest one bowed with a smile. "Tyro. I'm kind of in charge of our little fighting force."

Kuku bowed in return. "I'm Kuku. It's an honor to join you. We've known about the eclipse for a while now, but our plan was not nearly as… ambitious… as yours."

Tyro chuckled. "Frankly I'm more surprised at how many of us there are here, than how many of you. Most earthbenders aren't too willing to stick their necks out like this, they prefer to "wait and listen"—Master Yi was absolutely beside himself when we told him." He shrugged. "But sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands."

Kuku nodded. "Absolutely. The Fire Nation has been on our doorstep for a while; they've got an outpost not far from us. We just wanted to drive them out—but my friends and I think what you're doing is an even better idea." He put a hand on Tyro's shoulder to lead him further onto the ship. "Come on, they'll want to meet you."

Later that evening, the eight earthbending students and four waterbending students were gathered together in the galley. Introductions had been made, and they were planning the following day. Above deck, the soldiers from both nations were talking and laughing, and one of them had brought a deck of cards. They had docked on an uninhabited island not far from the capital city, marked by tall cliffs that blocked out the moonlight. They called the place Black Cliffs—nobody knew what the island's real name was, but it seemed fitting. Almost everyone was aboard the Earth Kingdom's main ship, including the waterbenders, so as to allow them to set off immediately the following morning without having to pack anything up. They had docked only so the waterbending soldiers wouldn't have to hold the ships in place all night.

"All right," Tyro said, pointing to a map of the Fire Nation capital city he had acquired. "The eclipse only lasts a few minutes long—"

"Seven," one of the earthbenders chimed in."

"…Right, seven. So by the time it hits we need to be here, at the palace gates. That way we'll have the advantage of no firebending right when we need it most, which is going against Sozin's personal guard and, finally… Sozin himself." He slid his finger across and rested it heavily on the throne room—a tiny box on the map, but to everyone looking it may as well have been three times the size and highlighted in red.

Ori was the first to break the silence that followed Tyro's plan. "How long do you think it will take us to get to the palace?"

"Well, fortunately for us Sozin has most of his forces spread out across the map. Some are in the Earth Kingdom, and from what you've told us some are up north, and I can only imagine how many are stationed near the Air Temples, but I know there isn't much guarding the Fire Nation right now. A few of us have done some scouting." He looked at the other earthbenders, and several of them smiled. "They're building some turret-like defenses around the capital, so we can expect them to be at least somewhat prepared. But all in all, unless something has changed since a few days ago, I don't expect it to take us very long. Meaning that, when we leave tomorrow, we'll have plenty of time to get there and bust through their defenses by the time the eclipse starts, which is approximately six hours after sunrise."

Kuku nodded. Leng looked at him and grinned. "You're forgetting one thing, Kuku. We won't be part of that invasion force."

Kuku raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"…Seriously? Let me show you." He left the room and returned a few minutes later, wearing the Fire Nation uniform he had stolen. He turned to Tyro. "What do you think we should do with the four of us who'll be wearing these?"

Tyro's eyes widened. "You… you have uniforms? Are they real?"

Leng beamed. "Sure are. Authentic Fire Nation equipment."

Tyro's eyes returned to the map, and the others could almost see his mind working. He traced a line from south of the capital inward. "Take the smallest boat you have and go in from the south. You can join up with the nearest Fire Nation squad there. Once you're in it should be easy for you to get to the palace. The rest of us will meet you there."

Yao looked at Tyro, thinking. The earthbender was about as old as Kuku, and almost as tall. "You know…" The other three looked at him. "Well, I was just thinking how I look kind of silly in that uniform. Cause it's so big on me."

Kuku sighed. "I noticed that too. Sorry, the selection on uniforms was terrible." Leng giggled.

"Well…" Yao looked down. "If you want… Tyro can take it. He won't stick out like me, and it might be good to have an earthbender with you guys. I'll go with the rest of the invasion."

None of them knew what to say. Even Leng wasn't smiling. "Yao…" Ori tried to say something, but couldn't come up with the rest of the sentence.

Tyro put his hand on Yao's small shoulder. "That means a lot to me. Thank you."

The rest sat in silence for a moment, looking at each other, each wanting someone else to say something. "The invasion's lucky to have you," Kuku said, breaking the silence at last. "You'll meet us there in no time."

Yao smiled. "Better hope I don't beat you there!"

Leng grinned. "Listen to this. Bragging already."

Tyro turned back to the map. "Okay, so here's what we'll do. You three and myself will sneak into the capital from the south, and blend in with the guards. When the eclipse gets close to full, we should be near the palace and we'll help dispatch the guards. If you guys aren't there with us by then, we'll meet you and help you catch up. Then when the sun's gone, we'll storm the throne room. His personal guard will be with him, and even though they won't have any firebending they aren't to be underestimated. We need to get rid of them as quickly as possible. After that… _bam!_" He puched his other hand with his fist. "The Fire Lord is history!"

They all cheered, and headed to their beds to get some much-needed sleep. Ori was both excited and terrified. The day they had all been planning for was finally here.

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Lieutenant Soku felt his heart sink into his stomach. The ship on the horizon was unmistakably royalty, and from what his sentry had said it contained none other than Admiral Jeong. _Why did he not send word about this?_ Soku wondered. Trying to prepare now would be an exercise in futility, so now all he could do was wait. Wait, and pray that tomorrow he was still in charge of something.

When the admiral stepped off the ship Lieutenant Soku bowed low. "Admiral Jeong. An unexpected honor."

"Morning, lieutenant. I am here to ensure that there is nothing that could hinder our presence here under the noses of the Northern Water Tribe. I trust you'll understand why I've come here unannounced."

"Absolutely, sir. I expect you'll want to be given a tour of the outpost, then?"

The admiral waved a hand. "Don't bother. I'll look around myself." Without another word, he turned and walked through the open gates. Lieutenant Soku exhaled but did not relax an inch. "I would also like to be shown to your other watchtowers," the admiral said over his shoulder.

"O-other watchtowers?" the lieutenant stammered. "Sir, this is the only outpost this far north. I was told that our relations with the Northern Water Tribe are, for now, to be kept neutral. As such, I felt that such blatant surveillance wouldn't be in our best interest."

The admiral clenched his fists, and released them. "Did you, now." He turned. "I am going to make something very clear to you, lieutenant. Since they are not Fire Nation, the Northern Water Tribe are to be considered hostile. On paper, we have made no advances against them, but the Fire Lord's intentions are very clear. I want three hundred and sixty degrees of watchful eyes on that city," he said, pointing at the icy towers of the Northern Water Tribe, tinted orange in the twilight. "If someone so much as shouts too loudly up there, I want to know about it."

Lieutenant Soku bowed. "Yes, sir. I will have supplies sent here as soon as possible, and we will have surveillance in place immediately."

The admiral turned back to look at the outpost. "Good. Now, show me where you intend for me to sleep tonight. I will be staying until tomorrow afternoon."


	7. Chapter 7: The Invasion

Kuku did not go to sleep right away. He found the captains of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers, and carefully explained the boys' plan to them. "Once we've dispatched some of the soldiers," Kuku finished saying, "we'll meet you here, at the main doors. By that time the sun will be fully eclipsed." His finger rested in the middle of the palace, just outside the throne room. "And then—well, we do what we came here for."

The earthbending captain nodded. "We'll be ready for you. And Kuku…" He placed a hand on Kuku's shoulder. "Good luck." The waterbender bowed and left.

Kuku woke up early the next morning, before the sun had risen. He got the other three out of bed, and quietly they donned their Fire Nation uniforms. After rousing a few of the other students and saying some final goodbyes, the four boys left the two armies in the escape boat and made their way around the side of Fire Nation territory. Their boat, being so small and light, reached the land miles ahead of its larger and more heavily laden counterparts. They reached the shore and dragged the boat up onto dry land, where they could find it again. Tyro made use of a powerful earthbending stride to propel them across the land at great speed. It had been two hours since they left the rest of the invasion force when they arrived within sight of the Fire Nation capital. The sun was now working its way across the sky. "Well, boys," Tyro said, looking out at the intimidating building, "this is what we came for. I can help us along a little bit, but for the most part we're walking from here." He pushed the earth less forcefully now, making it slide subtly under their feet. His arms moved less noticeably, so that to an outsider he would appear more to be gesturing in conversation than earthbending. "You like this?" he asked Kuku. "I spent a few days working on it back in the Earth Kingdom. I treat the earth the way I would treat mud, rather than rock, and it makes the ground shift instead of jut out. I had to study a waterbending scroll to figure out the movements," he added with a smile.

Kuku nodded. "Impressive. I'm a little surprised you even _had_ a waterbending scroll. Most of them are guarded carefully."

"Yeah, I found it in a shop in Ba Sing Se. Lots of great stuff there, from all over the place."

They reached the outer wall. A Fire Nation guard on patrol looked down at them. "What're you four doing out there?"

Kuku spoke up. "We were just, um, scoping around. Received a report of some weird stuff coming from that direction." He pointed behind him.

The guard scoffed. "I've been here at this post watching over there for two months. Nothing ever happens back that way, trust me."

Leng bit his lip to suppress a smile. Kuku nodded, trying to stay casual. "Right. Um, probably should've asked you first. Sorry about that." He led their group south, where he hoped the nearest gate would be. After a few minutes of walking, they found one. The two guards outside it gave them incredulous looks.

Tyro stepped forward. "We're from the previous shift," he said coolly. "We were told to do a perimeter walk, and we're just now getting back."

One of the guards snorted. "Too bad. You already missed breakfast." They opened the gate, and the four boys walked in. Once inside, Ori exhaled with relief. "That was amazing," he said in a low voice. "I'm glad you guys had a plan, I didn't know how we'd get past them!"

Tyro smiled. "Plan?" he said softly. "Nah, there wasn't a plan. As long as you look like you know what you're doing, they'll take your word for it." Leng closed his eyes and put a hand on Tyro's shoulder with a satisfied expression, as though he'd just uttered the most profound words of wisdom.

They made their way to the palace, large and foreboding. Everywhere they looked was decorated in red, and the Fire Nation emblem was all over the place. It was as though the inhabitants wanted to be sure there was never any doubt that this was Fire Nation territory. Leng whistled low as they got closer. "These guys sure know how to build. I can't even _pretend_ to forget that I don't belong here." The hearts of the three waterbenders jumped when they saw the large fountain in the middle of the square; it was like an early birthday present. All three of them began imagining the things they could do with that water. They'd just started making their way up the stone steps of the palace when a guard stopped them. "What do you four think you're doing?"

Tyro spoke first. "We were told the Fire Lord wanted some extra guards around here this morning, for some reason. Just following orders."

The guard took one quick look at Tyro's uniform. "But you don't belong here. The palace has its own guards, and you aren't part of them." He looked over the other three. "Aren't you guys a little young to be wearing the uniform?"

Ori's heart dropped like a stone. Leng looked down, unsure what to say. Kuku began scanning the area, sizing up the opposition they would have if they had to fight their way from here. Tyro kept pressing. "We joined early, my friends and I. And one thing I've learned is that it's not my place to question orders. So we'll go back if you want us to, but first give me your name so I can tell them _why_ we went back."

The guard looked up toward the palace, looking hesitant. Eventually he turned back to Tyro. "Okay," he said. "Go ahead. But first I want the name _your_ orders came from."

Tyro froze. He opened his mouth but said nothing and closed it again, for the first time at a loss for words. After a long several seconds, Ori piped up. "Sergeant… Lee. He sent us." Ori had learned a few Fire Nation names, and Lee seemed to be very common. He only hoped that there would be one in the ranks of their military.

The guard gave Ori a questioning look. "You mean _Captain_ Lee, the head of guard placement?" He snorted and shook his head. "New guys. So disrespectful sometimes. Okay, well you've got your orders, I guess." The four boys bowed low and went up the steps.

Once inside the palace, it was easy to see why the guard outside was so curious. The place was crawling with guards, and none of them were in the same uniform as the ones outside. The four students stuck out immediately. Kuku pulled them behind a corner. "Okay," he said. "This is it. We're going to have to fight from here, there's no way we'll get any closer to the throne room. Too many questions; we stick out here as it is."

Tyro clenched his fists. Ori began absently bending the water inside his canteen, moving it around. Leng took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself. "But there's a lot of them," Leng said. "What's your plan?"

"I'll show you." Kuku peeked around the corner and saw two guards talking to each other, apparently guarding the unimpressive door behind them. Kuku pulled the water out of his canteen and formed them into two long whips. Stepping forward from behind the wall, he lashed one out at the guard on the right, then the other at the guard on the left. Each whip wrapped around its guard's neck, and with a quick motion Kuku pulled both of them toward him. The hit the ground head-first with a thud, both unconscious. He looked at the others and grinned. "One- or two- at a time, as much as we can."

It was then that they heard a commotion outside the palace. Soldiers began yelling to each other, and looking outside the boys could see that all the soldiers were hurrying to one place or another, grabbing weapons or barking orders. "Did… did they see us?" Ori asked nervously.

"I don't think so," Tyro said, pointing. "Look, not a single one of them is coming toward the castle. It must be…"

"It must be the rest of them," Leng finished. "They made it."

"Come on," Kuku said, turning away. "They aren't within eyesight of here, meaning the Fire Nation is pushing most of its guards toward the front. Our guys are going to be counting on us taking out as many of them as we can. I say we go back outside and start pushing from the flank. We've got that fountain to help us."

The rest agreed. They rushed back outside. No one gave them a second glance, because all the other guards were either running also, or watching in the direction of the front of the capital with somber patience. Ori grabbed the water from his canteen, pulling it out into a whip just as Kuku had done. He lashed the nearest guard's feet, who fell hard on the ground. He wrapped his whip around the guard's ankle, and tossed him into a wall. The guard didn't get up. Leng grabbed some of his own water and formed it into a crescent-shaped ice blade, which hurled itself to the left and neatly sliced off the head of a spear that a second guard was reaching for.

Clearing themselves a path out into the courtyard, they positioned themselves around the fountain. Tyro faced away from the palace in a readied stance, eagerly watching the guards who'd begun to realize there was a threat inside. Four of them threw fireballs at the young earthbender, and the fifth brandished a curved fire sword. Tyro stomped the ground and a square of earth shot up in front of him, blocking the attacks. He jabbed the air, and the soldier to his left with the sword suddenly found himself pinned between two jutting spires of rock, pointing inwards and holding him fast at the waist. Tyro punched the air and two fist-sized rocks flew toward the pinned guard. They formed themselves into rings, attached themselves to the man's wrists, and fixed themselves to either of the two rock spires. The guard struggled but was trapped. Turning his attention back to the three in front, Tyro shot both hands forward. His square earth-shield shot forward and collapsed down on top of the guards, crushing them.

The waterbenders wasted no time. Leng pulled a large amount of water from the fountain and formed himself into an octopus. Two of the tentacles grabbed a guard each and tossed them away. One landed on the stone ground and struggled to get to his feet; the other collided with another guard, both of whom went flying backward. Two other tentacles each grabbed a guard and smashed them together before tossing them into the fountain. The other four started picking at the weapons and helmets of guards who were still standing, knocking swords from their hands or spinning their helmets backwards.

Kuku formed a large ball of water in front of him, which separated itself into a ring of smaller blue orbs around him. As the firebenders began hurling fire at the students, Kuku responded. Each ball of water he threw at an incoming rocket of fire, extinguishing both in a cloud of steam. The steam he would then draw back to himself and reform it into water, ready to counter the next incoming fireball. One firebender slid his foot across the stone and threw a wave of fire at Kuku; the waterbender responded by coalescing three of his water spheres into a wet, blue shield. This shield he froze after the fire had been repelled, then he turned it on its side and hurled it at the attacking guard. Only a desperate rolling leap into the air prevented the firebender from being sliced in half at the waist.

Ori wielded a water whip in each hand. Incoming attacks he dodged or blocked with water, and attackers found it hard to keep their feet with Ori's whips always licking at the ground around them. Swords or spears left lying on the ground quickly became weapons wielded against the firebenders, with whips kicking them up into the air or grabbing them and hurling them at the guards. Many spears met their end this way, as each would find itself flying toward the chest of a firebender only to have its target desperately burn its shaft away to avoid the attack.

Eventually, though, the guards began closing in on the four young benders. Under the heat of the sun, the guards' fire slowly overpowered the students' water. For every guard Tyro knocked back with a flying boulder, two more would step in, flames dancing around their bodies. The guards were well-trained in fighting together, and despite their energy and enthusiasm, the students didn't have the power needed to match so many opponents. Finally, with guards so close he could touch them, Tyro crouched and encased himself in an armor of rock, standing up to begin punching them with his now-solid fists. Leng, and Ori started to realize that their attacks were met with more than enough return firebending, while they were having an increasingly hard time fending off the assault. Even Kuku, the best of the three of them, wasn't able to fend off every fire attack. Ori took one in the chest and flew backward into the fountain; Leng's tentacles turned into steam one-by-one as their firebender targets squeezed them off with heated palms. They pulled into a tighter circle standing inside the fountain, where they found renewed energy and fought back the tide of fire. Kuku stopped using elaborate, water-consuming offense and switched to the more direct method of hurling balls of ice at his opponents' head, chest and feet. Even Leng abandoned his water octopus in favor of shields and small thrown ice-daggers. But it soon became noticeable that the firebenders were pressing forward through even this more direct attack.

Then, a voice pierced the cacophony of fire and steam—Yao's voice. "There they are!" he shouted. "And they're in trouble!"


	8. Chapter 8: Facing the Fire Lord

Kuku was the first to catch sight of Yao and the others, who were fighting impressively toward the palace. He threw what remained of the water in the fountain up around the four of them (Tyro had, by this time, joined them) and solidified it, forming a large shield of ice. He wanted to be sure they survived without any further injuries until the rest of their forces reached them.

He needn't have bothered. The soldiers attacking them saw the strength of numbers the invaders had, and left the four students without a second glance to help hold back the tide of battle. Only now did Kuku notice that it was considerably darker than it had been before the fighting began—he glanced quickly at the sun, which appeared to be about half-covered. The firebenders were noticing this, too. Their bending abilities were not yet affected, but it started occurring to them that this may not end well for them. With renewed vigor they pushed against the earth- and waterbenders, hurling so much fire into the air that it became difficult to see clearly. Kuku, Tyro, Leng and Ori, however, seized their opportunity and prepared themselves for another round. Tired though he was, Leng waved his arms and formed his octopus. Ori stuck his hands in the water, pulled out two long streams, and cracked his new whips. Kuku began whirling his arms in a circle, and what remained of the water became a whirlpool that left the fountain and expanded, forming a circle around the four of them. Tyro stomped the ground and a spire of rock jutted out suddenly beneath a guard's feet, knocking him into the air. Tyro punched his hands forward, and the rock spire pushed itself into a second guard, hitting him with a _crunch_ in the side and knocking him to his feet. Ori lashed his whips out toward the nearest firebender, grabbing him by both ankles. With a yank the guard's feet were pulled from under him, and he hit the ground hard. Ori pulled him through Kuku's wall of water and threw him through the OTHER side of the water, after which he hit the side of a building. He slumped to the ground and was silent.

Several minutes later, Yao and the others caught up to them. At this point, all the soldiers outside the palace were either on the ground or had fled. Leng bowed extravagantly. "Good morning, fellow waterbender. Fancy seeing you here."

Yao grinned and bowed back. "Just cleaning up, I see. It looks like you guys were at least able to do SOMETHING while I was gone."

Tyro put a hand on Yao's shoulder. "Good to see you again. You ready for the palace? Cause it's waiting for us."

They each gave the sun a quick glance. Only a sliver of it could still be seen. "Show time," Kuku said. With the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers behind them, a group which was noticeably smaller and a bit worse for wear, they marched up to the palace.

The palace guards had not been left in the dark, it seemed. They stood in three rows outside the main doors, in readied stances. Tyro stepped to the front, and three other earthbenders came up to join him. With synchronized motions, they waved their hands. The steps in front of the palace flattened themselves into a ramp. Then they raised up on either side and buckled in the middle, forming a V. The four earthbenders thrust their hands forward in unison, and the V of rock pushed itself forward into the Fire Nation palace guards. Those on either side were crushed beneath the oncoming rock and the solid wall behind them. Those that were in the middle or able to get out of the way hit the now-smooth sides of the V and slid unceremoniously down to the ground. Kuku, Leng, Ori, Yao, and a few other waterbenders wasted no time in dousing the heap of guards with water. This they froze, and the guards were trapped.

The sky darkened. Glancing up they could see that the sun was now completely covered. The remaining guards looked uncertain and fearful, but in keeping with their duty they reassembled themselves as best they could. Sixteen pairs of hands clenched into fists and punched the air. Nothing happened. Some of them tried again, and again, but none of them could produce enough fire even to light a candle. Their bending had been completely stripped from them.

The earthbenders began their movements again. Without waiting to find out what was going to happen, the firebenders fled. They weren't trained to fight without their bending, especially not against opponents who had no such restriction. The stairs replaced themselves where they were meant to go, and the invading force stormed the steps of the palace. They sidestepped the frozen pile of guards that was still lying at the foot of the steps.

The inside of the palace was all but deserted. The palace guards, it seemed, had all been pulled to the front to defend the Fire Lord. The invaders wasted no time in reaching the massive throne room, and threw open the doors. Inside, Fire Lord Sozin sat calmly on his throne, which was customarily surrounded by fire. In front of him stood twelve men dressed in red robes, each wielding a sword and each prepared to strike. "Well, well," the Fire Lord said calmly. "The Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe have decided to take advantage of our moment of weakness, and strike when we cannot defend ourselves. Cowards."

The Earth Kingdom captain stepped forward. "We have every right to make use of every advantage we have, Fire Lord. You are the one who started this war."

The Fire Lord stood up. "And I will be the one to finish it! Attack them!"

The twelve elite sprang forward, brandishing their weapons. The earth benders threw up large slabs of rock from the ground to protect the group from the initial attack. One firebender was caught unluckily by one such slab, and was launched into the air. A waterbending soldier shot a stream of water at him, freezing him in midair. He landed behind the group and the ice around him shattered. A waterbender in the back of the group reformed it around the fallen soldier, trapping him. Eleven.

The movements of the elite were fluid and unpredictable, very much unlike the somatics of firebending. Though no fire accompanied their attacks, the invading soldiers could not afford to take their opponents lightly. The elite managed a few glancing blows off an earthbender's armor here and there, or a slice to the sleeve of a waterbender there, but all managed to avoid serious damage. A lucky earthbender caught an elite with a rock fist to the temple. The stunned firebender fell to the ground and lay still. Ten.

Four waterbenders managed to isolate four of the elite to one side of the room. The firebenders seemed well capable of defending themselves against other types of bending, even without their own. They cut off the ends of water whips, or turned their blade flat against hurled ice blades, or dodged the attacks completely. The waterbenders, on the other hand, found it difficult to land a blow. Two of them eventually managed to get a whip around an elite's ankle, pulling them off their feet. The firebenders were frozen in ice, immobilized. Eight.

The other two facing off against the waterbenders adopted more of a defensive tactic. As more opponents joined in the fight, they were forced off the offensive and had to defend themselves. Flying icicles were cut in half or dodged, shattering against the wall only to be reformed again. One waterbender threw his water onto the floor in a deep puddle around them and froze it. The elite's feet were planted, and their defenses severely hampered. Four other waterbenders formed large balls of ice and hurled it at the firebenders' chests. They could not dodge the attacks, and the ice boulders were too big to be deflected. Both elite went flying against the back wall and hit with a crunch. One let out a loud cry of pain as he hit the wall, then each slumped to the floor. Six.

Down to half their numbers in less than a minute, the other six elite quickly realized they had no chance of winning. They lay down their swords. "Surrender," one of them said. Six earthbenders bound the hands and feet of one elite soldier each with shackles formed of rock, and forced them to the floor. Then all the benders turned to the Fire Lord. "Give up, like your men," the Earth Kingdom captain demanded. "Don't make us kill you."

Fire Lord Sozin, still standing, barked a laugh. "Ha! You think just because you have a few minutes to take me without my firebending, that I would surrender to you? I am the Fire Lord. An eclipse takes away our bending, but there is also something that can increase it tenfold. And when it does, I will conquer the world. You cannot defeat me, even with this eclipse on your side."

His words were met with a rock the size of a grapefruit hurled at his chest, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him back into his chair. "Careful, Fire Lord," Tyro said. "Your arrogance might get you into trouble. Like, in the next three minutes." He was getting ready to hurl another rock when an icicle flew from behind him and pinned the right shoulder of Sozin's robes to his throne. A second did the same on his left. "I'm getting sick of this," Kuku said angrily. "Let's just kill him. We won't get another chance, and he's too dangerous to be kept alive."

"No," the Water Tribe captain said. "It isn't honorable. We must give him the opportunity to surrender." He calmly stepped up to the throne and formed a ball of water around his fist. Freezing it to ice, he punched Sozin solidly in the jaw. "That doesn't mean, however," he continued, more to Sozin himself than to the rest of the group, "that we have to do it nicely. You're a tyrant, and you just told us yourself that you want to take us over."

Sozin glared at him. "I do. And I will. You can't threaten me into surrendering. I am more powerful than you can imagine."

He was met with another punch, this time to the temple. "Give up, Fire Lord. Surrender now, and we'll keep you alive. If you refuse—I can't make that promise."

Sozin spat blood on the floor. "No."

"Fine." Sozin took an uppercut to the chin from the captain's ice-hardened fist. His head hit the back of his throne with an audible thud and slumped forward. Blood trickled from his mouth. "I would rather… die… than surrender. The Fire Lord… does not… surrender." He lurched forward as he took a hit to the gut.

A fireball missed the Water Tribe by inches. He looked back. One of the elite who had been frozen in ice had freed himself, and was running and dodging toward the Fire Lord, coming to his defense. "Looks like the firebending's back on," the captain said. The Fire Lord stirred in his throne, but was injured and dazed. Two more of his elite guards had managed to get free or find their feet, and were coming to the Fire Lord's aid. One of the waterbenders yelled out, "Captain, we need to go! If the Fire Lord recovers his strength, I don't think we can beat him!"

The captain would not be turned so quickly. He bent the ice around his fist into a curved sword, and reached it back to swing at the beaten Fire Lord. Before he could bring it forward, a quick-thinking firebender hurled a fireball directly at the blade. They collided in a hiss of steam, and the sword was gone. The captain whirled around to find the sole of a shoe barely missing his face, the owner of which having been knocked off-balance by a thrown rock from one of the earthbenders. "Captain, we need to go!" This time, the captain agreed. He joined the group of benders, who found themselves facing a large group of firebending soldiers. They'd been frozen too, and had freed themselves. Their total numbers matched that of the invaders, and they had the advantage of position. The earthbenders stomped the ground and readied their attacks, while the waterbenders swept their arms around their bodies to gather up the water that had been tossed to the floor around the room.

Kuku, Leng, Ori, Yao and Tyro made it out of the throne room, fighting hard against the renewed ferocity of the firebenders' attacks. The two captains made it out too, but not all of their men were so lucky. Eighteen of the remaining earthbenders and thirteen waterbenders were beaten down and taken hostage. All told, there were only eighteen Earth Kingdom soldiers and twelve from the Water Tribe who managed to escape the palace. Three of the earthbending students had been injured in the initial assault, but the remaining five also made it back out safely. When they reached the ship they learned that five Water Tribe soldiers had fallen in the battle. The Earth Kingdom had lost nine. Though they'd successfully invaded the Fire Nation capital and defeated the Fire Lord, none of them felt very victorious. He was still alive, and their losses weighed on the retreating warriors. As they sailed away they met little opposition—the Fire Nation, it seemed, was glad simply to be rid of them. At least for now. Kuku watched the Fire Nation shrink into the distance. "Do you think we'll ever have a chance like that again?"

Tyro, who was with him, shook his head. "I don't think so. But we got awfully close."

Kuku's face was grim. "I guess now we wait and see what comes of it."


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

Admiral Jeong read the note three times before he could respond. _The Fire Nation has been attacked. The Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe took advantage of the eclipse. Sustained losses; gained prisoners. Fire Lord Sozin is injured, but alive. Return immediately. –Lee. _He crushed the note in anger. "Take us back to the Fire Nation," he told his crew. "Now."

"S-sir?" Lieutenant Soku stammered. "Is there a problem?"

The admiral tossed the note behind him at Soku's feet. "The Fire Nation has been attacked, by the Earth Kingdom and the Nor—" He paused, as he realized again where he was, and turned around. "Let me ask you something," he said slowly. "Has there been anything—_anything_—out of the ordinary in the past month?"

Lieutenant Soku swallowed hard. "Yes. Four Fire Nation uniforms went missing about two weeks ago."

"And you didn't report this because?"

"I-I took it to be something that needed to be handled locally. Vandalism, nothing more."

Admiral Jeong turned his back on the younger officer. "Lieutenant Soku, your negligence has proven costly to the Fire Nation, possibly to the Fire Lord himself. Your punishment will be severe… but it will not be at my hand. Right now you will accompany me back to the capital." The admiral went back to his ship, not bothering to look behind him to make sure Soku was following him. He didn't need to. He barked orders at his crew, and the ship set sail within minutes.

Lieutenant Soku sat by himself in a secluded area below deck. Why, why, _why_ did this have to happen at _his_ post?

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Three days after the attack, Fire Lord Sozin had recovered from his injuries enough to once again take his place on the throne. General Lee took over his duties while he recovered—the story given to the public was that he was taking a short leave of absence. It was well-known that the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe had indeed invaded the capital city, but what took place inside the palace was known only to the guards, and to Sozin himself. This was carefully maintained.

Still, rumours abound. In some places, the commoners insisted to each other that the invading force had been only a small number, every single one of which was being held captive. Others maintained smugly that it must've been hundreds strong, because only a force that large would have been able to penetrate the capital city. But everywhere, in dark alleys or deserted tea shops, people whispered to each other that the invaders had reached all the way to the throne room—that the Fire Lord himself may even have been attacked. Some believed he had been beaten. His message of superiority, that fire was the superior element and firebending the height of elemental mastery, began to unravel.

It was mid-afternoon on the third day that he took back the throne. He still winced in pain at times, but he wasn't about to let something so temporary keep him from rule any longer than absolutely necessary. "Fire Lord Sozin," an attendant bowed as he approached the throne. "Are you ready to make your reappearance to the people?"

"Yes," the Fire Lord replied.

"And what shall we tell the historians? Already they are writing down the events of the past few days."

"Let me make this clear. The invaders did get to the palace, and they did enter during the eclipse—but not a _single one_ came into the throne room. And I certainly was never beaten." _What cowards,_ Sozin thought to himself. _Those frightened earthbenders and waterbenders, reduced to using the eclipse to try and stop me. And they didn't even succeed,_ he added, smiling to himself.

The attendant bowed and left. Fire Lord Sozin was later presented to a handful of nobles to assure them he had returned. He was careful to hide his injuries.

Later that evening, he held a war meeting with his top military leaders. "Our plans have not changed," he told them before any of them could ask the question they were all thinking. "When the comet arrives, we shall use it to eradicate the Air Nomads. The Earth Kingdom's and Water Tribe's attack has not changed my mind; it has only made their eventual defeat all the more triumphant."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

A year later, the comet arrived. As planned, Sozin spread his naval power across the globe and attacked all four Air Temples at once. The Air Nomads, an inherently peaceful society, had no way of answering to the military power the Fire Nation wielded. Even the most powerful airbenders were unable to hold back the terrible onslaught from the newly-empowered firebenders. One by one, the Air Temples fell.

The Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe tried once again to attack the Fire Lord, after the comet had passed. But without the help of the eclipse, the mission ended in sorrowful failure. Kuku and Tyro, once again at the forefront of the attack, were killed. Leng was taken prisoner, and died some months later. Of the four waterbenders, only Yao survived. After seeing his friends fall he was unable to return to the Fire Nation, and eventually replaced Master Kengen as the Northern Water Tribe's waterbending teacher.

Fire Lord Sozin found himself at something of an empasse with the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe. Neither of his enemy nations were strong enough to overtake him, but neither did he have the forces to invade as he had with the Air Nomads. At his death, both nations still thrived, quite independent of the Fire Nation. Throughout this time, the day of the eclipse had been effectively wiped from the memories of the public. The people of the Fire Nation were convinced and reconvinced that nothing of any importance had happened that day. The earthbenders and waterbenders, even those who had been part of the invasion, remembered only their failure to overthrow the Fire Lord. The rest of the world took the day of the comet to be the day that changed everything, the day the War was officially declared, the worst day anyone had ever lived through. But to Sozin and the few of his guards who were there to experience it, the worst day was the day the Fire Lord was very nearly overtaken in the heart of his own stronghold, the day the whole Fire Nation and even firebending itself was cast into darkness—the darkest day in Fire Nation history.


End file.
